Skin Horse

By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
By Shaenon K. Garrity & Jeffrey C. Wells
Color by Pancha Diaz
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2012-10-25
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2012-10-25

by shaenon on October 25, 2012 at 12:00 am
Chapter: Railway Children
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Discussion (50) ¬

  1. Andrew
    October 25, 2012, 12:03 am | # | Reply

    I have a 10 ft USB cord with plug-in adapter for those hard to reach areas. Okay, I’m clearly being followed.

  2. mittfh
    October 25, 2012, 12:08 am | # | Reply

    Only in the Narboniverse could there be ethical dilemmas about carrying around (non-storage!) bits of computer kit…

    But still, her intention indicates she’s probably got a notebook computer (with a few terabytes [or possibly even exobytes] of free hard drive space) lying around. USB3? USB 1.1 might be a tad slow (although great for comic relief when Violet is fully recharged after only 10% of her mental capacity has been downloaded…)

    • John Campbell
      October 25, 2012, 9:30 am | # | Reply

      Nah, the real world has systems where the physical security is poorer than it should be, too. And most of them don’t have nipples, either.

  3. eddddd the mad genius
    October 25, 2012, 12:11 am | # | Reply

    Im also conflicted about carrying around cables, but in my case its because i keep trying to strangle people with them…

  4. Baf
    October 25, 2012, 12:29 am | # | Reply

    Pretty soon, the Narbonic commentary will be reaching a point where someone downloads the contents of their brain through a nasal interface. It’s enough to make a dedicated fan speculate about possible connections.

    • davidbreslin101
      October 25, 2012, 5:20 am | # | Reply

      … and that person didn’t even have a port, just went direct to wetware, Cylon-style. Maybe the incident started a trend.

  5. cwar
    October 25, 2012, 1:48 am | # | Reply

    And people questioned her sanity???

  6. Manifesta
    October 25, 2012, 2:43 am | # | Reply

    Ginny, your boss just lied to you about being a) human and b) a robot, and then she hit on you. Ethics has left the building.

    • Smithnik
      October 25, 2012, 9:37 am | # | Reply

      On the one hand, two [okay, three] ethical lowlights do not add up to a moral high ground. On the other hand, that USB cable is just crying out for use. On the gripping hand, there’s got to be something in the company manual that REQUIRES operatives to obtain data in nefarious ways, and you know what happens to people who violate company policy…

      • Axel
        October 25, 2012, 11:03 am | # | Reply

        I really don’t! At least I’m not allergic to walnuts, though.

    • Shadowmehr
      October 25, 2012, 5:25 pm | # | Reply

      I doubt ethics made it past the security at the front door.

  7. Eddurd
    October 25, 2012, 3:08 am | # | Reply

    (TUNE: “Roll To Me”, Del Amitri)

    Look around the room, Ginny honey,
    How ya gonna charge her battery?
    What the heck, you’ve got a connection
    To plug in to USB!

    What ya gonna do, Ginny honey?
    A dilemma facing, morally!
    Just because you’re able
    To plug in a cable …
    To plug in to USB!

     You were terrified because she tried
     To “interface” with you!
     So get a thumb drive, sixteen gigs
     Or maybe thirty-two!

    And make your mind up now, Ginny honey!
    Put the cable in, hit control-C!
    You can download Vi, leave her chassis si-lent
    Just plug in to USB!

    • Classic Steve
      October 25, 2012, 6:58 am | # | Reply

      You’re so eclectic. I don’t know how your mind works. And I’m not about to go Ginny on you to find out.

    • Andy4Hire
      October 25, 2012, 1:52 pm | # | Reply

      Sometimes, Ed, you filk songs I know well. Sometimes you filk songs I’ve never heard of. And now today you’ve completed the trifecta by filking a song I totally recognize but had forgotten the existence of. Well done, sir, well done.

  8. davidbreslin101
    October 25, 2012, 5:18 am | # | Reply

    This was probably sabotage, but if Violet HAS merely run out of power, given the timing, there’s the worrying implication that getting it on with Virginia was how she expected to recharge. Digital succubus?

  9. Foxhack
    October 25, 2012, 5:38 am | # | Reply

    I don’t think that’s a port. I think that’s just an eerie hair formation.

  10. Dewy
    October 25, 2012, 7:58 am | # | Reply

    Funnily enough, isn’t that where Dave shoved his connection to upload himself into an AI core? Hmm…

    • Andy4Hire
      October 25, 2012, 1:57 pm | # | Reply

      [eyes go wide, color drains from face]

      Oh. My. Stars. I completely failed to make that connection, but you’re right.

      … Erm, and by “make that connection” I mean “associate today’s strip with the one you’re talking about,” not “shove a USB cable up my nose and upload something.” The latter, I haven’t had a problem with.

    • Stig
      October 25, 2012, 6:33 pm | # | Reply

      When did that happen? Which Narbonics story line?

      • Tetra Valent
        October 25, 2012, 7:28 pm | # | Reply

        July 29, 2006, in “Madness”

        • Stig
          October 26, 2012, 4:17 pm | # | Reply

          Thanks!

  11. Dave Van Domelen
    October 25, 2012, 8:17 am | # | Reply

    Do people want USB cables that can be fitted nasally? When you’re in marketing, you have to think about these things.

    • ColinG
      October 25, 2012, 8:52 am | # | Reply

      I want a clip on.

    • Daibhid Ceannaideach
      October 25, 2012, 9:29 am | # | Reply

      And how many leaves will it cost?

    • Wayne Zombie
      October 25, 2012, 10:13 am | # | Reply

      At least it’s not 10,000 photos of moodily-lit toothpaste.

      Speaking of which, I have a photo shoot this afternoon where I’ll be shooting bottles of SCIG, should be fun as I’ve never seriously shot glass bottles before in a studio.

      • Manifesta
        October 25, 2012, 1:30 pm | # | Reply

        Subcutaneous immune globulin? That just begs for moody lighting.

        • Wayne Zombie
          October 26, 2012, 8:24 am | # | Reply

          I’m experimenting with black line and white line bottle lighting, next week with a tent. The sad thing is that plasma and derivative products are actually yellowish.

  12. Rex Vivat
    October 25, 2012, 9:30 am | # | Reply

    Many appliances recharge through USB, don’t they?

  13. Sparks
    October 25, 2012, 9:35 am | # | Reply

    Oh, those wacky gynoid designers, always having to try to break with the established standards just to put a signature on things.

    I mean, really. Everyone knows you put the USB port in the *ear*.

    • Smithnik
      October 25, 2012, 9:39 am | # | Reply

      Yes, but the ear is the charging port. The nose is the data port. Every right-thinking mad gynoid designer knows that…

      • Nebulous
        October 25, 2012, 10:30 am | # | Reply

        Having a moderately intelligent phone that’s fully charged, but won’t connect to the computer, I WISH that they’d separate the charging and data ports.
        Or, at least, standardize them.

      • M. Alan Thomas II
        October 25, 2012, 12:49 pm | # | Reply

        Must have been a left-thinking one, then.

    • Andy4Hire
      October 25, 2012, 1:59 pm | # | Reply

      So the old “Blow in my ear and I’ll follow you anywhere” becomes “Blow in my ear and you’ll void my warranty”?

    • Shaenon
      October 25, 2012, 5:20 pm | # | Reply

      I think we all need to be glad this isn’t Chobits. Or are my manga references too dated now?

      • Sheik
        October 25, 2012, 9:46 pm | # | Reply

        Chi?

      • Jeff K!
        October 26, 2012, 2:31 am | # | Reply

        Oh no, they’re not. My mind immediately went to Hand Maid May, of course…

      • Rex Vivat
        October 26, 2012, 4:44 am | # | Reply

        I’m glad I wasn’t the only one thinking about that.

      • davidbreslin101
        October 26, 2012, 4:48 am | # | Reply

        I was very carefully trying NOT to go there!

    • Animaniac
      October 25, 2012, 10:26 pm | # | Reply

      If this was Chobits, Mendozo or Tip would walk in while Ginny was flicking Violets on/off button (basic troubleshooting 101)

      There would also be nosebleeds

  14. Saberbeam
    October 25, 2012, 11:10 am | # | Reply

    The next dilemma Dr. Lee has to face is whether to copy or cut the contents of her brain? I suppose having 2 copies of Violet Bee out there would probably be a bad idea (though the potential for robot double comedy might be worth it).

    • Tetra Valent
      October 25, 2012, 1:48 pm | # | Reply

      Have we seen robot-on-robot action, yet? We’ve seen pretty much everything else.

      • Saberbeam
        October 25, 2012, 2:38 pm | # | Reply

        Well there was this comic with Tigerlily’s robot and the robotic water cooler.

        http://skin-horse.com/2010/todays-comic-285/

        Or did you mean action in another sense?

        • Tetra Valent
          October 25, 2012, 3:34 pm | # | Reply

          Ah, good spotting. I might have remembered that one, but for the Sunday feature that immediately followed it. Shaenon, have you actually worn that shirt?

  15. commodorejohn
    October 25, 2012, 11:16 am | # | Reply

    The lesson here is, apparently, that gynoids cannot be charged on +5V USB power. Good to know.

  16. Blayzeing
    October 25, 2012, 12:04 pm | # | Reply

    I personally carry around an 8ft retractable Ethernet cable everywhere I go.

  17. Robert The Addled
    October 25, 2012, 4:09 pm | # | Reply

    Favorite SF port locations for WETWARE installations (off the top of my memory) include: Temple, behind the ear, nose, base of the skull. These are the general function ones.

    Armour/weapon interfaces: shoulderblades (usually a wireless proximity), wrist/forearm.

    SECRET ports for spies and such – arpmits, groin, nose (further up), under tongue, and potentially in the ‘normal’ non-visible orifii.

    It is important than A) use of the port does not provide a hazard to the user in use (such as tangle while walking), and is not adversly affected by ambient moisture or movement.

    A Powerport (a brand name) or similar interlocking IV port (typically used for chemo treatments) provides an example for a subdermal installation provided minimal size/number of contact points are required.

    YES – I have given this a bit of thought over the years.

    • Sheik
      October 25, 2012, 9:46 pm | # | Reply

      You make a good point.
      Violet was probably built on-the-cheap using off the shelf parts.
      Any truly sophisticated gynoid would be totally waterproof and employ wireless for both data exchange and power.

      • commodorejohn
        October 26, 2012, 12:57 am | # | Reply

        Wireless is only good until you have to deal with a bunch of it. When you have an army of 50,000 killbots, do you wanna be the one stuck assigning and testing individual frequency ranges?

        • Robert The Addled
          October 26, 2012, 1:56 pm | # | Reply

          i just saw an article the other day about using algebra in the wireless protocol to recreate dropped packets – its still in test but was a massive 10x or better bandwith increase.

  18. Adept Arcanist
    June 27, 2020, 12:39 pm | # | Reply

    Brain interfaces seem to always be in the nostril in this universe. Odd.

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